Rara Kang

RARA KANG focuses her practice on commercial litigation and disputes and provides counsel as a full-service litigator in a wide range of industries, including consumer products and services, energy, oil and gas, apparel, food and dietary supplements, and real estate. Rara’s experience spans all phases of litigation, from advising on pre-suit litigation risk management to guide business decisions, through fact investigation, discovery, and dispositive motion practice, to trial and post-trial motions. Rara’s practice includes defending companies in consumer fraud litigation involving claims of false labeling and advertising, responding to pre-suit claims under the California Consumers Legal Remedies Act, and counseling companies on drafting online terms and conditions to mitigate litigation risk. She also has experience representing clients in a variety of matters involving California-specific issues, such as the California Environmental Quality Act and the Health & Safety Code, and the California Air Resources Board.

In 2025, Benchmark Litigation named Rara to its “40 & Under List,” which annually spotlights “top emerging talent in litigation” across the United States. Rara was also named to Best Lawyers “Ones to Watch in America®” 2026 for Commercial Litigation.

Prior to joining Sidley, Rara was a judicial intern for the Honorable Paul L. Friedman for the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. She was also a legal intern at the Department of Justice in the Criminal Fraud Section, Securities and Financial Fraud Unit. While in law school, Rara was a law fellow for the first year legal research and writing course and senior executive editor of the Georgetown Journal of Legal Ethics.

• Representing a major athletic footwear manufacturer in lawsuits concerning a retailer contract procured through fraud. 
• Representing a fast-fashion apparel company in a lawsuit alleging consumer fraud claims regarding online product reviews.   
• Defending an international pharmaceutical company in products liability actions challenging the safety of prescription medications. 
• Securing a complete defense verdict after a two-week jury trial on behalf of a major sports apparel and athletic shoe company in a third-party investor lawsuit relating to alleged misrepresentations over a retail operation agreement.
• Obtaining dismissal on behalf of one of the world’s largest oil and gas companies in an action based on alleged violations of California Environmental Quality Act and the Health & Safety Code.
• Representing a petroleum company against investor-owned electric utility companies in power reliability lawsuits.

Rara was a member of a team that obtained summary judgment on behalf of a class of approximately 900 Cambodian nationals living in the United States, many of whom fled Cambodia in the 1970s to escape the brutal Khmer Rouge regime. Class members are subject to removal orders but have peaceably lived in the United States for decades because ICE was unable to execute their removal. The summary judgment granted on March 4, 2020, by U.S. District Judge Cormac J. Carney of the Central District of California held that procedural due process requires the government to provide written notice to class members before re-detaining them for purposes of removal, effectively making permanent the temporary restraining order in the case and minimizing the substantial risk that the government would erroneously deport class members with valid challenges to their removal orders.

Rara reprsented Detroit public school students in Gary B. V. Whitmer, a class action lawsuit against Michigan Governor Richard Snyder and state education officials, alleging that the State of Michigan denies children their constitutional right to literacy under the Due Process and Equal Protection Clauses of the United States Constitution. In April 2020, the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit held that the Due Process Clause confers a fundamental right of access to literacy. This groundbreaking decision marks the first time any court has held that there is a fundamental federal right of access to literacy. The Sidley team was recognized by Public Counsel with the 2019 Pro Bono Award and was commended for “working tirelessly” to defend the students’ right to receive a basic education.